Montgomery County Sheriff outlines 4-year plan after 100 days in office

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Montgomery County Sheriff Rand Henderson marked his 100th day in office by presenting his vision for the next 1,361 days.

The county's top lawman outlined his 2017-20 Strategic Plan to commissioners last week, showcasing how he believes the MCSO will be able to bring the Sheriff's Office into the 21st century. Henderson presented three strategic goals to help do so. All of them come with new technology and innovative ideas to help enforce the law in today's world. MCSO's strategic plan has been in the works for months since Henderson took office on New Year's Day. In fact, hours into Henderson's administration, his handpicked command staff was hard at work developing plans for the future of the department.

Henderson acknowledged the "old school" way of doing things at the Sheriff's Office and said it played its part well during the previous administration. However, he's hoping with these new initiatives, the Sheriff's Office will be able to usher in a progressive way of policing that Henderson campaigned on.

"It served us well for many years," said Henderson, pointing to the reactive focus in the past by waiting on calls. "But we think we can do better."

As part of the reorganization there will be three patrol divisions among the 10 divisions within the MCSO. The East Division, which encompasses East Montgomery County, will be led by Patrol Capt. Kevin Ray. Under him will be three lieutenants, 18 sergeants and 95 deputies/staff. There are 849 employees in the Sheriff's Office, including 484 sworn peace officers allocated for the agency. It is the seven-largest sheriff's office in Texas.

Reducing Crime/Fear of Crime

"We can't forget the fear of crime," Henderson said. "Fear of crime can be as paralyzing as the crime itself. If you've got somebody who's never been a victim of a crime, yet they live in a house with bars on the windows and are afraid to go enjoy the neighborhood park because they're afraid they'll be a victim of crime, sometimes that's worse than the crime itself."

Henderson said he hopes to implement a software system called COMPSTAT, short for computer statistics, which would essentially map out hot spots where crimes are trending, and deputies will patrol the areas more rigorously. A report detailing the locations of major crimes in Montgomery County was in Henderson's presentation, and showed that the Interstate 45 North and U.S. 59 corridors in the southern part of the county were major hubs for robberies, aggravated assaults, home burglaries and motor-vehicle thefts.

Other areas of the county were also hubs for burglaries of vehicles, including Magnolia, Lake Conroe, Southeast County and almost all of The Woodlands. Henderson said once the COMPSTAT system is implemented, hopefully by summer 2018, patrolling deputies will use the data for "directive" patrols rather than random patrols.

Among the community-oriented policing changes, the county soon will be divided into three divisions: The Woodlands, East County and West County. Currently, there are six districts under which the Sheriff's Office operates: The Woodlands, North County, South County, East County, West County and Northwest County.

Inside the new East and West County divisions, the areas will be divided into "zones" or "precincts," officials said, much like they are in The Woodlands. Each village in The Woodlands is its own zone, allowing deputies and command staff to operate in an acute area where they can become well-versed in its intricacies.Providing High-Quality Professional Service

The Sheriff's Office also hopes implement its second strategic goal by maintaining community satisfaction and employee surveys, aiming to have a high satisfaction rate on the surveys by spring 2018. The plan also outlines how the Sheriff's Office will implement promotional testing and career planning for deputies and other employees to help usher in and maintain personnel within MCSO for the long haul.

"If you want to be a K-9 handler, if you want to be a detective, if you want to be the sheriff," Henderson said, "we will give you a plan to be able to get there."

Henderson also is hoping host large-scale ceremonies for promotions and recognition within the department. Preparing for Future Population Growth and Emerging Crime Trends

To help prepare for the exploding growth in Montgomery County, Henderson is hoping to create a campus master plan, which would take a look at all of the MCSO facilities and address any infrastructure needs.

Henderson was adamant about not wanting to build a new jail, although some much-needed renovations are not off the table.

"I don't propose a new jail, and I've never proposed a new jail," Henderson said.

About a year ago, the county jail was a hot issue due to how some officials viewing it as overcrowded. The jail has at maximum occupancy of 1,253 inmates, although there were only 928 in the jail as of April 11.

Henderson proposed the possibility of building a holding location in Magnolia, where deputies who make arrests in West County can place defendants rather than making the trek into the jail in Conroe. There are holding locations in East County and South County.

During the upcoming budget hearings later this year, Henderson said he's going to implement a zero-based budgeting philosophy, which means Henderson's budget will be built from scratch each fiscal year rather than making year-after-year modifications.

After 100 days in office, Henderson said he's appreciative of his staff and the staff of retired Sheriff Tommy Gage for making the transition of power seamless.

"We're excited," Henderson said. "It hasn't been without bumps in the road, but we're pleased with what we've been able to accomplish. The smooth transition was the catalyst for this."